"General" brand apparatus - experiences?

[Dudley]

Can anyone offer first hand experience with General branded apparatus. They are a subsidiary of Rosenbauer and I have been told they make less than 100 trucks a year. They seem well built, but I am interested in hearing from some current customers.

[npfd801]

The word I got was that under Rosenbauer's umbrella, General built the higher end stuff, and Central built the more budget-minded rigs.

I do not know this for sure, but when we had a Rosenbauer dealer spec a rig for us, they made it clear that General was the builder that could do what we wanted, though how that fits into the scheme that I've heard, I don't know.

Someone on here must know.

[TCFire]

We have a '99 ALF/General Safety 1000 gal/1500 gpm pumper. No gripes with the spec/order process, they worked out everything we asked for (nothing exotic). Truck has presented only a few minor problems, well built and holding up so far. Only gripe at this point is dissimilar metal corrosion on the doors of the body where the D ring handle assembly meets the aluminum doors. The salesman for the truck is no longer affiliated with General so we have no local support. General said they'd be glad to take a look at it, just take that short drive from NY back to the plant in Minnesota so they can evaluate what the problem is! This is not a rocket science problem but they refused to set up anything for us locally, it was either Minnesota or nothing. Now we'll have to eat the cost of having the doors repainted. Reinforced the fact that after-the-sale support and service is just as, if not more, important than price, quality, etc!

[Rescue101]

TC, From the other TC I have a contact that may be of help to you.Brigham Industries is the "new" rep/service provider for Rosenbauer New England.They just opened a new service facility in Worcester Mass just off exit 10A.The contact is Neil Bagdis and the phone number is 508-795-7905.If you call,tell 'em Tim from Bridgton Fire(Maine)referred you.These folks seem to be quite interested in product support so it would probably be worth your while to give them a call.T.C.

[TCFire]

Originally posted by Rescue101
TC, From the other TC I have a contact that may be of help to you.Brigham Industries is the "new" rep/service provider for Rosenbauer New England.They just opened a new service facility in Worcester Mass just off exit 10A.The contact is Neil Bagdis and the phone number is 508-795-7905.If you call,tell 'em Tim from Bridgton Fire(Maine)referred you.These folks seem to be quite interested in product support so it would probably be worth your while to give them a call.T.C.

Thanks Tim! May be worth a call. Appreciate it!

[ChiefDog]

Was the salesman part of Wilde Fire? http://www.wildefire.com/ They are in New York and sell Central's. We had some factory repair done by them on our Central. Seemed good to deal with and had a full shop. I am not sure of their location to you but it maybe worth a phone call if they are closer to you than MA.

[firetruckguy]

First let me clarify that I work for a manufacturer and offer this as a fire service manufacturer (yes manufacturers do read your posts, LOL). While I do represent and design apparatus under contract, I am offering this information in a manner to be nuetral as possible and not as an advertisement. Hopefully it will supply information to assist what I feel are two issues in this post: Who is "General" and "how do I get one fixed?"

To answer one question within this post, General Safety has been in business since 1929. They became part of the Rosenbauer Group in the early 90's. The Rosenbauer Group consists of many worldwide manufacturing companies that now make up the worlds largest manufacturer. The US based operations of General Safety, Central States and RK Ladders builds approximately 750 units per year, possibly making them the 2nd/3rd largest US (North America)builder. Generals role within the Rosenbauer group has been focused on building the very sophisticated and high end customized apparatus. They will build to a customers "exact" requirements with the highest level of customization. General also builds the large 4x4, 6x6 and 8x8 ARFF Panther model units for Rosenbauer in their Minneapolis area facility. The Rosenbauer subsidaries each specialize on particular product segments in each facility, by vocation.

General Safety builds primarily of extruded aluminum, stainless steel and limited amounts of galvaneal. General has a strong "regional" reputation and you can find their apparatus in "pockets" across the country where they have been well represented by either factory direct personnel or local representatives. Large users such as the City of Fort Worth has over 25 General units of every model imaginable for instance. Previously, there were distributors for each brand within Rosenbauer and now, there is one badge or brand representation. One stop shop for all brands and service of all models (as of 2nd quarter of this year, with one exception in the Midwest). This one brand representation and distribution will increase the exposure to Rosenbauer (General Facility) products with a stronger dealer network, that continues to grow. One would also have to add that this is a highly profitable and successful company, unlike many other struggling US based fire truck builders, with what seems to be a very good mix of companies doing all the right stuff. You can see their performance at www.rosenbauer.com or www.rosenbaueramerica.com

For the department that had a warranty issue: First and foremost, ALL firetrucks break and all fire trucks have warranty claims. If any manufacturer tells you differently, watch their nose grow when they tell you that they have no warranty! No the real thing is how do you get it fixed and how quickly does your service rep help you! You can get service from a minimum of 6 locations in NYS alone (Buffalo, Rochester, Elmira, Cortland, Westchester, Albany areas) and over 10 other service locations within the Northeast. The two primary contacts for Rosenbauer and serice/warranty in NY are:

Eric Saulsbury
S-Fire
289 Grinnell Rd.
Homer, NY 13077
607-749-4232
SFireApparatus@aol.com

Paul Wilde
Wilde Fire
24 West Main St
Mayfield, NY 12117
518-661-6147
pwilde@wildefire.com

Eric Saulsbury has over 20 years of fire trucks sales, design and service, with his previous association to Saulsbury Fire Rescue (left the E-One NY Facility along with all other Saulsburys in 2003 and makes no claim of association or affiliation with Saulsbury or E-One or Federal) and has been a full line Rosenbauer/General Dealer since the beginning of 2004. S-Fire has sold many new Rosenbauer units and will start delivering customer units in September, with two demo units also slated in late 2004. In addition, Eric is providing design services for Rosenbauer on a whole new line of heavy rescue apparatus to introduced later this year.

Paul Wilde has been with Rosenbauer for 15 years, primarily representing the Central Brand until 2004, when he became a full line Rosenbauer dealer, including General Safety. Wilde has sold a wide array of Rosenbauer products primarily in the Eastern portion of NYS. He has a strong service background and several full time in-house people to repair apparatus, regardless of how big the project may be.

Call your local rep and I am sure they will help you get your truck fixed or provide sound new apparatus information. Their business relies on happy customers and fixing your trucks on a timely basis is only one little part of accomplishing total customer satisfaction! The unit in question (with paint issues) may or may not be under warranty, but go to the local rep first and I am sure they will assist you in expeditious repairs. Feel free to contact me anytime for design, sales or service/repairs of any fire truck or industry related question. FYRTRUCKGUY@AOL.COM

Respectfully,

FireTruckGuy

[Crisb1419]

firetruckguy, I couldnt of said it better myself. I am a midwest dealer for Rosenbauer, and a FF. But that was a very good response to that post.

[aland438]

My department has used General Safety Apparatus since the mid 50's but has more recently switched to the pierce responder/contender models because of budget issues. We have 2 generals still in service, an 1982 1250gpm pumper and a 1972 1250 pumper/squrt. The majority of the problems have been on the waterous pump end. A few problems with water tank corrosion but thats to be expected in rural northern Minnesota where the roads have 3 inches of salt on them from November - March. The bodies have held up very well, no rust or corrosion problems there. the 1982 still does about 300 runs a year and drives and pumps very well. The trucks have also done well considering the climate, in the summer we roll out in 90 degree heat and in the dead of winter it can get to -30 or lower at night. This is the true test of fire apparatus. The generals have done well for us.

[TCFire]

Originally posted by firetruckguy
For the department that had a warranty issue: First and foremost, ALL firetrucks break and all fire trucks have warranty claims. If any manufacturer tells you differently, watch their nose grow when they tell you that they have no warranty! No the real thing is how do you get it fixed and how quickly does your service rep help you! You can get service from a minimum of 6 locations in NYS alone (Buffalo, Rochester, Elmira, Cortland, Westchester, Albany areas) and over 10 other service locations within the Northeast.

Appreciate this info....I guess my only question is why didn't I get this info from General? Maybe the tone of my post was misunderstood: I like our General pumper, I would recommend it to anyone. As far as I am aware, we are the only owner of a General in this area. I am also WELL aware that "ALL firetrucks break". I was, however, disappointed by the apparent lack of interest in helping us get the paint issue resolved. If there are 6 service locations in NYS, why did the manufacturer give me the lone option of bringing it back to the plant? I'm not a manufacturer basher...this wasn't intended to be a "waa, waa, you won't fix my truck so it's junk" post. The positives of the truck have far outweighed any negatives. Thanks again for the info.